Box toe for shoes



Patented July 13, 1926.

REGINALD S. PITTS, OE HANOVER, PENNSYLVANIA.

BOX TOE FOR SHOES.

Application filed November 17, 1823. Serial No. 675,263.

My invention relates to stifl'eners for shoes and especially to boxtoes, the object being to produce in an inexpensive manner a box toe orthe like which will be firmer and holdiits shape longer than similarelements heretofore produced, and which will be largely water-proof and,therefore, resistant to the perspiration of the foot. The invention willbe hereinafter first fully described and then particularly defined inthe appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a strip of mate- Fig. 2 is a plan view of ablank,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, 0

The strip 1 is of indefinite length and lts width is slightly greaterthan the width of the blank to be formed therefrom so that wh le fullblanks may be readily cut waste will be practically eliminated. Thestrip generally consists of three plies of canvas cemented firmly andsmoothly together with any suitable cement, although other material maybe used and I have obtained good results from felt. The strip shown inFig. 1 is then coated on both sides with sodium silicate and permittedto dry, after which the bla'nk 2 is cut from the strip by dies, asindicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and the edges skived, as shown at3, whereupon the blank is ready for delivery to the shoe manufacturer.The sodium silicate coating may be applied to the strip of material inany approved method, and I have practiced the invention efficiently bypassing the stri tween rollers and through abath of sodium. silicate.

I use sodium silicate showing 40 Baum test and dilute it until itsspecific gravity is reduced about one-half. When the sodium silicate isdiluted, the base '(sodium hydroxide), being more highly soluble, willpenetrate the material to a greater de th and leave most of the sodiumsilicate to ry upon or at the exterior of the material and this portionof the bath on or sli htly below the surface of the material, ing in theair, gradually forms a less soluble silicate. When it comes in contactwith an acid, as it does when worn next to the foot, it is rial fromwhich the box blanks are formed,

the

further transformed into an insoluble silicic acid, increasing thewaterproof quality of the box toe. The stri porous nature and readilyabsorbs the sodium silicate which fills slight'imperfections and spotsin the material so that the finished product will be firm and uniform instrength and the box toe formed therefrom will retain its shape for along period.

By the use of sodium silicate hereinbefore set forth, the box toes madein such manner are much stiifer and harder and 'the wearing qualitiesvery much improved over box toes heretofore manufactured by the use ofvarious other materials such as resin, celluloid, and the .like, and bythe use of sodium silicate in this manner various solutions heretoforenecessary and used by manufacturers in working box toes in the shoes aredispensed with. I

It will be understood, of course, that the present invention is notlimited to box toes for shoes but is intended to cover and is equallyapplicable to other parts of shoes, such for exampleas leatherinnersoles wherein it has been used with great success, and

the scope of the following claims is intended to be broad enough tocover any such use.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as Letters Patentof the United States is:

1. A stiffener for shoe suitably shaped'blank externally coated with asodium silicate to water proof the same and adapted upon contact witherspiration of the foot to form an insoluble acid, to thereby increasethe water proof quality.

2. A waterproof stiffener for comprising a suitably shaped blank coatedwith sodium silicate, whereby to form insoluble silicic acid externallycontact with acid of the foot.

3. A stiffener blank for shoe parts formed of a plurality of canvasplies cemented together and coated externally with sodium silicate topermit formation of insoluble silicic acid upon contact with acids fromthe foot of the user.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

REGINALD S. PITTS.

new and desire to secure by parts comprising a shoe parts thereon, uponmaterial is of a

